Shan

 

At first light, the assault-force assembles outside the Palace gate.  Among them are twenty picked men assigned to me by General Tao, along with Shao Ru, Duan Bai and, surprisingly, Kong Guanyu, who’s looking somewhat self-conscious.  In reply to my raised eyebrows, he shrugs.  “Need the exercise,” he says.  I grin and slap his shoulder and he grins too, rather sheepishly.  Duan Bai looks the other way. 

My team has to wait for the main assault to play out before we can go into action.  There’s been no reply to the ultimatum sent in the previous day, but I don’t suppose Tao Yahui was expecting one.  He wastes no time, using battering rams to break down the gate and then leading the charge inside himself.  We’re expecting casualties and we get them.  Archers are waiting for the first wave of attackers, sheltering behind a wall of bodies in Imperial Guard uniform.  It seems that a number of soldiers wanted to surrender but were slaughtered to prevent this.  Our men press forward, orderlies following behind to retrieve the wounded.  At the same time, men scale the Palace walls and move swiftly from building to building, clearing out the Guards, gradually securing the whole area and ensuring the protection of all the civilians trapped in the Palace:  members of the Imperial family, eunuchs and servants.

By the time my men and I move in, Tao Yahui’s in control.  I find him standing with his officers, frowning as usual, but unharmed.  “Ah, Commander Liao.  One matter’s been resolved.  My men found Yan Rong’s body in the mausoleum.  He’s been dead for some time.  So there’s now no obstacle to declaring the Third Prince Emperor.  Your two other targets have been located.  They’ve taken refuge in a guard-tower on the west side.  We understand that it’s now used as an armoury.  Some of the rescued civilians have told us that Xu Yating’s been moving stores in there, so she probably always had it in mind as a last resort.”

“How many people are in there with them?”

“Our informants say thirty or so.”

“We’ll go and take a look.  I’ll need to know the layout inside.”

“I’ll see you get the information.”

The guard-tower’s square and squat, built uncompromisingly of hewn stone, with a flat roof and a parapet.  It stands two storeys high and is very close to the Palace wall, which is about the height of three tall men.  From the parapet, there must be an excellent view over the city beyond the wall.  There are no other buildings around.

“Ideas please, gentlemen,” I say to my people from our vantage point outside arrow range.

“Wooden door, rather old, wooden shutters on the lower level, bars on the upper level,” says Shao Ru.  “We could try fire-arrows at the door and through the bars.”

Duan Bai frowns.  “The wall’s conveniently close.  Could they be expecting a rescue attempt?  Get up that wall and get a ladder across…..”

I nod.  “Good point.  I’ll  suggest the General posts men outside the wall.”

“It could be a way in for us,” Duan Bai goes on.  “There’s a nice flat roof.”

“There can’t be much room inside,” says Kong Guanyu, “If there are thirty guys in there, they’ll be falling over one another.”

“But they’ll have lots of arrows,” says Shao Ru.  “They can hold off attackers indefinitely.”

 “We need to get a better look at the roof,”  I say.  “Ah-Ru, get someone with good eyes up on the wall.”

"Yes Boss."

A young soldier dashes up and salutes me.  “Reporting to Commander Liao.”  He bows and presents a scroll with both hands.  On it is a hastily-drawn plan of the inside of the tower.  It’s simple:  a chamber at ground level and an upper chamber, connected by a staircase.  Another staircase leads up to the roof.  There’s also a basement where the weapons are stored.

“There’s a trapdoor onto the roof,” I say, tapping with one finger.  “It must open from the inside.  If we could get men across from the wall, we could break through.  But we’d have to disable the people in the room or they’d get us coming down the stairs.”

“Smoke,” suggests Shao Ru.

“Throw in a few snakes,” says Kong Guanyu, grinning.

We stare at him.

“That’s an idea,” says Duan Bai.

Shao Ru grunts.  “We’d have to be careful not to step on them."

“They wouldn’t have to be poisonous,” I say.  “Where can we get snakes?”

“Imperial menagerie,” says Shao Ru.  “I’ll send someone.”

As we wait for the report about the roof, the plan’s coming together in my mind.  The spy returns quickly.  “Reporting to Commander Liao,” he says, saluting,  “I got up on the wall, but it’s not easy to see the roof because the parapet’s higher than the wall.”

“How much higher?”

“A forearm’s length.  But the ladders we’re using are pretty tall, so I was able to climb up a bit further.  There’s a square wooden trapdoor right in the middle, big enough for an armed man to get through.”

“Could we get a ladder across from the wall to the parapet?”

He thinks for a moment, then nods.  “But it’s awfully high up,” he says naïvely.  “And the ladder would slope upwards.”

“Two ladders side by side, tied together,” says Duan Bai.

My spy, who looks to be about sixteen, says, “Um…”

“Yes?”

“Two ladders tied together would be difficult to manoeuvre.  We’d be better laying them one at a time and the first man across could tie them together.”  He hesitates and then says modestly, “I could do it.  I was an acrobat before I joined the army.”

“What’s your name?”

“Ping.”

“Well, Ah-Ping, find me seven more men who have a good head for heights and are reasonably acrobatic.  Then stand by.”

“Yes sir,” he says eagerly. 

As he dashes off, Duan Bai says, “You’re going to do it?”

“Attack from above and below simultaneously.  It worked in Qiu City.  Ah-Ru, you and Kong Guanyu will lead the ground attack.  Duan Bai and I will take the roof.  We’ll get everything ready today and attack at daybreak tomorrow.  First we’re going to set up a barrage of fire-arrows.  Some will be aimed at the door and others through the upper windows.  Let’s see what the response is.  We’ll need to set up cover nearer to the tower.  I’m going to inform General Tao and tell him what we need.

The General listens to my plan with his habitually serious look.  He immediately takes the point about a possible rescue attempt and orders a detachment to guard the approach to the wall.  I see a flicker of astonishment when I mention snakes, but he doesn’t comment.  He writes out orders for the equipment I’ve requested and hands it to his second-in-command, a sleepy-eyed young man whom I’ve not met before.  Sleepy-eyed he may be, but in a very short space of time, men are building wooden hides to give us cover while we fire our arrows.  A cart appears, laden with bundles of arrows and a barrel of pitch.

I’ve told the men building the hides to keep out of sight, wisely, as it turns out, for heads appear above the parapet of the guard-tower, disturbing a flock of pigeons, and a few arrows whistle down and land thunk in the wood.  But it’s a waste of resources and they soon stop.  The pigeons circle and come back down to their roosts.  The heads remain, watching us.

By mid-afternoon, we’re ready to start.  A dozen archers are in hiding.  I give the word, and a steady barrage of fire-arrows starts to fly towards the tower.  Hitting the door’s easy, but the wood doesn’t burn and the fire-arrows just fizzle out when all the fuel’s consumed.  However getting arrows through the barred windows soon becomes a sport and everyone wants to have a go.  I see that more heads have appeared on the roof of the tower.  I take my own bow, notch an arrow and let fly.  The men on the tower are busy watching the fire-arrows and don’t notice.  I see a man’s arms go up as he falls backwards and all the heads disappear instantly.  The pigeons all take flight again.

“Haven’t lost your touch, then,” says Shao Ru, grinning.

We keep up the game till the light starts to fail. 

“Let’s see how the engineers are getting on,” I say.

Outside the wall, the engineers have gathered together a number of the ladders used earlier for entering the Palace.  Somebody’s been up on the wall to measure the distance to the parapet with a long pole.

“Can we do it?” I ask.

“Yes sir.  We have ladders of the right size, but it’ll be quite tricky lowering them.  Once we get one across, that acrobat kid can nip across and then we’ll lower the second one and he can lash them together at his end.  We lash them at our end and there we are.”

“We’ll do it the moment there’s enough light.  The fire-arrows haven’t made any impression on the door, so during the night we’ll pile up dry stuff at the foot of the tower and tomorrow morning, we’ll set it alight.  That might draw them out, both at the top and the bottom of the tower.  If they come out of the trapdoor, our job will be done for us.  If not, we break through the trapdoor and throw in the snakes.”

“Snakes?” says the engineer.

“Non-poisonous,” says Shao Ru cheerfully, “But they won’t stop to think about that.  If we don’t distract them they’ll massacre us as we come down the stairs.”

“Right,” says the engineer, glancing at his fellows.

“So, everybody get some rest.  Ah-Ru, where are we on the snakes?”

“A box is on its way.  Someone’ll have to carry it.”

 “All right.  Everybody back here at first light.  I’m off to see the General.”

The two Generals, Li Wei and the Third Prince have set up their headquarters in the Council chamber.  The Palace has settled into relative calm.  The bodies have been taken away, the civilians evacuated and the wounded seen to.  The remains of a meal are on a big table and I’m reminded that I haven’t eaten in hours.  I give the assembled company a progress report.

“Snakes?” exclaims the Third Prince, paling.

"A distraction, Your Highness.  Everyone's scared of snakes."

“You know we found my brother's body?  The doctors think he may have been poisoned.  And there are letters from Xu Yimu to his sister.  It was just as we thought.  They were going to wait till the army was in the south and then Xu Yimu would be invited to protect the city.  They were counting on the success of the assassination attempt.  With Second Brother and me both out of the way, the Xus planned to take the throne.”

“Once Xu Yating and Du Xun are prisoners, we’ll proclaim His Highness Emperor." says General Tao.  "It’s in your hands, Commander Liao.”

“Yes sir.  May I take my leave?  There are still things to see to.”

“Of course,” says the Third Prince, soon to be Emperor.

Ren Baiyi and Zi Wuying are standing guard.  They cast me sympathetic looks.  I head out and look for something to eat.  A camp kitchen’s been set up.  I get a bowlful of food, look round, and spot Shao Ru sitting not far away.  A familiar figure’s with him.  “Ah-Zhou!” I say, going over.

He gets up, smiling, and embraces me.  He’s wearing his doctor’s apron and cap, rather stained.

“How’s it going?” I ask.

“I should be asking you. “

“Let’s not talk about it.  How’s everyone at home?”

It’s dark now and lanterns have been lit.  All around us, men are sitting eating and talking in quiet voices, relaxing after their battle.  Ours is still to come.  Duan Bai joins us.  We sit and talk about everything except the action tomorrow.  Inevitably we start reminiscing about the journey to Qiu City and our time there.  Duan Bai listens smiling.  “Sounds as if you were all happy.”

“Yes, we were,” says Liang Zhou.

Suddenly I find myself yawning hugely.  Liang Zhou gets up and pats me on the shoulder.  “Get some sleep.  Doctor’s orders.  All of you.  I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

As he starts to leave, I catch him by the arm.  “Ah-Zhou, did you see Jinhai today?”

“He’s at the Pavilion with Yuan Song.  They came to help in the clinic today.”

“Tell him….  No, he knows.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Liang Zhou says.  “We'll take care of him.  Just do the job.”

Quilts have been provided, so we find a quiet corner and bunk down, Duan Bai, Shao Ru and I.  Predictably, Kong Guanyu has mysteriously disappeared.

“Let’s hope the bugger gets back in the morning,” grumbles Shao Ru as he settles down.  “Or I’ll set the snakes on him.”

“They’re not poisonous,” I murmur, already half-asleep.

“No, but he is.”

I fall asleep smiling.